


Hindsight is (Not Always) 20/20

by Innwich



Category: Until Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: Drinking, First Kiss, M/M, Pre-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-27
Updated: 2015-09-27
Packaged: 2018-04-23 13:53:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4879342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Innwich/pseuds/Innwich
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Life went on after the disappearances of Hannah and Beth. Chris tried to be there for Josh, but not all problems came with a red warning sign.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hindsight is (Not Always) 20/20

On the night that Beth and Hannah didn’t return to the lodge, the group were worried but agreed the twins would find their way back. When the sleepless night ebbed away, the group started to freak out. By the time the sun reached the treetops and Josh stumbled out of the door with a massive hangover and yelled for his sisters, they had no choice but to call the cops.

After that, they’d all been made to give statements at the police station.

Chris sat in a cold plastic chair in the waiting room. Mike was sitting with Emily and Jess and Matt. Ashley was chewing at her fingernails and refusing to look Chris in the eye. Sam was pacing the room. No one was talking. If they opened their mouths, Chris was sure blames would be hurled around and there was no way anyone would come out unscathed.

The only sounds were the footsteps of police officers walking up and down the corridors.

A door opened. Josh walked out of an interview room next to the waiting room. His eyes were bloodshot and swollen. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the group.

At the sight of Josh, Chris stood up quickly. When Chris had called the Washington house, no one had picked up the phone.

“Josh, you okay?” Chris said.

“Me? Oh, I’m great. I’m fine,” Josh said. “While my sisters are probably dead because of some stupid prank!”

“We don’t know that,” Sam said.

“No? They’re lost on a fucking mountain, Sam!” Josh said.

Sam winced. “Josh, listen to me-”

Josh raised his voice. “My sisters and I invited you guys to our home, and that was how you repaid us? I don’t know why I invited you. I don’t even know some of you that well. Like, say, Matt here.”

“Come on.” Chris reached out to grab Josh. “Why don’t we take a walk outside?”

“No, I want to talk to Matt. Hey, Matt.” Josh pushed Chris’s hand away. “Matt, yeah, I’m talking to you. Look at me.”

Matt watched him warily. “Josh. I’m sorry for what happened-”

“Don’t give me that. Why were you taking that video, huh?” Josh said. “It wasn’t embarrassing enough for Hannah to be humiliated in front of all of you? You would show it to the rest of the world too?”

“I’m sorry. I really am. I never thought the prank would escalate like this, but that doesn’t excuse what we did,” Matt said. “I’d give anything to take the prank back. We all would.”

“Nobody wanted this to happen, Josh,” Sam said.

“The hell you didn’t!” Josh yelled.

Ashley burst into tears. She mumbled into her hands, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

Chris grabbed Josh before he turned on Ashley too. He pulled Josh towards the door and walked with him with one hand on his back. “Okay, time to go. Josh, we’re going to get some air. How does that sound?”

Josh relented and let himself be led away, but not before he snarled at the rest of the group, “You’re all going on my shit list!”

\- - -

The bar was lit with red lights that throbbed to the beat of the song. The song was some party music that Chris had heard too many times on the radio but never knew the name too. The party had not yet started, but people were already writhing on the dance floor. The bartender was behind the counter busy getting people their drinks.

“Excuse me.” Chris pushed past a couple kissing by the door, looking for his friends in the crowd.

Most of the people were those that Josh had known in college before he’d dropped out. There were some somber faces, most of which belonged to friends of Hannah and Beth. Chris spotted Emily talking to Matt in a dark corner by the washrooms. Mike and Jess had to be nearby too if Emily was here.

As the song came to an end, the microphone switched on over the speakers.

“Hey, everyone. Thanks for coming.” Josh stood on the stage at the front of the bar. “I know it’s been months since my last party. Because of what you all know happened to my sisters.”

Murmurs rippled across the crowd.

“I want to apologize to some of you out there. You know who you are. I wasn’t myself when I said those things. What happened is all water under the bridge. Hannah and Beth wouldn’t want us to stop living because of them. I want you to have a good time.” Josh held up his beer. “To Hannah and Beth.”

The crowd held up raised their drinks. “To Hannah and Beth.”

Josh drained his beer. “Alright, now that we got the downer stuff out of the way, let’s get this party started!”

The music started up again at full volume.

Josh stepped off the stage. Chris pushed his way to the stage and caught Josh before he slipped into the crowd.

“Josh. Hey. I’ve been looking everywhere for you,” Chris said.

Josh grinned when he saw him and pulled him into a hug. “Glad you could make it, Cochise.”

“Where’s Ashley?” Josh said.

“She can’t make it,” Chris said. Ashley had texted him saying she wouldn’t be going because she’d had a test to study for. Chris hadn’t insisted. He couldn’t blame her for not wanting to face Josh after what had happened. “She’s got, you know, school stuff.”

“Dude, you’re supposed to ask until she agrees to come. Women want to be chased!” Josh said. “What is this? Where’s your drink? No, no, no. You can’t have a party without getting a drink. It’s free booze for everyone tonight.”

“Uh. Yeah, sure. Why not,” Chris said.

Josh slung his arm around Chris’s shoulders and steered him to the bar. They sat on the barstools. The bartender came to take their orders.

“I’ll have whatever’s on tap,” Chris said. As the bartender went off to get him his drinks, Chris said, “So, how are you doing, Josh?”

“I’m thinking a lot about Beth and Hannah, not gonna lie,” Josh said.

“Yeah?”

“But it’s not like they’re gone for sure, right? They’re just waiting for us to find them,” Josh said.

“Yeah, they’ve gotta be somewhere,” Chris said. “We’ll find them.”

Their conversation was interrupted when the bartender returned with Chris’s beer.

Chris thanked the man and took the drink. Josh had turned around in his seat. He was leaning back against the edge of the bar as he looked at the dancefloor. Chris turned to follow his line of sight, curious about what had caught his attention. In the middle of the dancefloor were a bunch of jocks that Chris didn’t know. They were more like people that Matt or Mike would know. The guys were laughing and drinking and shoving at each other’s arms.

“What is it?” Chris said.

It was too dark for him to read Josh’s expression. It didn’t help that Josh wasn’t looking at him. What he could see of Josh’s face was outlined in pulsing red lights.

“You see these people? They give me the time of day ‘cause who my dad is. They wouldn’t even be here without the free booze,” Josh said.

Chris had been hanging around Josh long enough to see bunches of people coming and going in Josh’s life. It was just what happened when someone had the sort of cash that the Washingtons could afford to throw around. Chris wouldn’t call them Josh’s friends, but Josh had got on well with them. Not sure what to say, Chris sipped his beer. “Well, if you don’t like them, you don’t have to invite them to these parties.”

“Let them come at me. I can handle a few fair-weather friends,” Josh said.

“Then why are you doing this anyway? Hosting this party?” Chris said. “I know it’s not because of that crap you said on the stage.”

“You think you know me that well, Cochise?” Josh gave him a lopsided smile. “No, you’re right. I just have to know I can do I have to prove I can still do this. That I still have it in me.”

The bar was filled with people rubbing up against each other. People were talking loudly over the music. Chris was sure he saw more than a few couples getting handsy in the booths.

“If that’s what you want to prove, I think you’re doing a pretty good job,” Chris said. “It’s a cool party.”

“Thanks, man. It’s pretty rad if I say so myself,” Josh said. “It’s good getting back into the swing of things.”

“You know you can talk to me, right?” Chris said.

Josh punched him in the arm with a laugh. “Lighten up. Stop looking at me like I’m made of eggshells. Enough about me. How’s things with you and Ashley.”

“Same old. Same old,” Chris said. He and Ashley met up after school and got together with some other mutual friends on the weekends. “We are, you know, friends.”

“Man, I have to get you two together. I’m sick of seeing you two dance around each other,” Josh said.

“I’ll get there someday.” Chris shrugged. “You know, someday.”

“Don’t wait too long, or who knows, I might make a move,” Josh said.

“You wouldn’t,” Chris said.

“Don’t count on it,” Josh drawled.

Chris snorted and rolled his eyes. “Yeah, right.”

\- - -

It was nearing the end of summer when the media attention surrounding the disappearances of Hannah and Beth finally died down. The news had moved onto the murder of a two-year-old that everyone and their grandma were talking about. Chris could go two blocks without seeing the faces of the twins pasted over the front page of some newspapers.

After months of little contact from Josh than a few texts, Chris dropped everything when he got a call from Josh to meet up. It was a warm night. Josh and Chris had dinner at a pizza joint and Josh suddenly proposed to drive out to the hill outside of town.

“Just like when we were in high school,” Josh had said.

There was a bit of wind on the hill but it wasn’t too chilly. Josh and Chris lay on their backs in the grass. They got a six-pack sitting next to them in the grass. This far from town, the stars were bright and clear above them. Chris could see the constellations that Josh had used to point out to him when he’d gone over to his house for a sleepover.

“You should practice kissing on me,” Josh said.

Chris looked over to Josh with a raised brow. Chris was on his fifth beer and a warm buzz was settling under his skin, but he wasn’t so far gone that he didn’t know when up was down. Josh was looking right back at him. Josh wasn’t cracking up, but Chris had learnt a long time ago that it didn’t mean Josh wasn’t up to something.

“I think I’ll go back to kissing my own hand, thanks,” Chris said.

“It’s nothing like the real deal, bro,” Josh said. “Have I ever led you wrong before?”

“You mean like that time we blew up the lab?” Chris said.

“I’m telling you: A good kiss goes a long way if you want to get laid,” Josh said. “Plus, a nice girl like Ashley deserves nice things. You can’t give nice kisses without hands-on experience. That’s just facts.”

Chris groaned. “I don’t want to get slapped in the face for some shit you talk me into doing.”

“Will you look at this? Ladies and gents, we’ve got us a disbeliever here,” Josh said. “Alright, I’ll prove it to you, if you let me.”

Chris had been told he was an agreeable drunk. He remembered that time Beth had got him drunk and made him take off his shirt and stand on his head in front of a bar.

Josh leaned in. Chris felt his breath on his nose.

He didn’t realize he’d tensed up until Josh put a hand on his shoulder. “Relax, man. There’s no judgment ‘round here.”

It was getting way too warm with Josh leaning so close to him and his heart was jack-hammering in his chest. They weren’t even pressing that close to each other.

“Wait,” Josh said.

“What?” Chris said. When he opened his eyes, his sight was blurry. Josh was pulling off his glasses. Chris hadn’t even realized he’d closed his eyes.

Josh put Chris’s glasses on the ground. “This is better.”

“You done yet?” Chris said, staring at the blur that was Josh’s face hovering before him.

“Oooh, someone is impatient,” Josh said.

“You know what I think? I think someone is too chicken to go through with it,” Chris said.

Josh kissed him on the mouth before he said another word.

Josh was gripping his forearms to keep him still. Like he was scared that Chris was gonna run for the hills. Chris wasn’t going anywhere soon. His world narrowed into the sensations on his mouth. Josh was sucking his lower lip in between his teeth and nibbling it. With how heady he felt, Chris was sure the beer he’d drunk had gone rushing up to his brain.

When Josh opened his mouth under his, Chris mirrored him without thinking. It was like his brain short-circuited and he was moving on auto-pilot. Then a warm slick tongue slid all the way into his mouth. It darted in and wiped the roof of his mouth.

Chris froze and his mouth hung open. Josh licked a long stripe up his nose. The cold on his nose shocked him out of his stupor. Chris stumbled back with a splutter. “Gross! Dude!”

“Dude. So good.” Josh was laughing his head off when Chris wiped his own mouth with the back of his hand.

Chris rubbed the spit off of his nose and tried to ignore how red his face was. “Ugh. I think I can taste the burger you had for dinner.”

“It’s not a kiss if there’s no tongue, man!” Josh laughed. “You’re gonna get laid for sure. Am I the best wingman in the world or what?”

“Pretty sure wingmen aren’t supposed to kiss the dudes they’re wingmanning for,” Chris said.

“You have much to learn, my young padawan,” Josh said.

Chris put on his glasses and lay on his back. The adrenaline rush from the kiss was fading away. His sight was filled with stars blinking down at him. The only sound was the wind rustling the grass on the hill. With his lips tingling and his arms spread on either side of him, Chris breathed evenly. He opened his eyes again after they’d fluttered close. “I forgot. Who is supposed to be the designated driver?”

“We don’t have one,” Josh said from somewhere to his right.

“So do we hitchhike or just hike home? Both sound unappealing to me right now, just so you know,” Chris said.

“We could always sleep here,” Josh said.

Chris lifted his head. The car was so far away, just sitting by the road like that. It was too much effort to walk to the car. Chris flopped back into the grass. His eyelids were getting heavy. “Sounds good to me.”

\- - -

Despite the thick layer of snow on the streets outside, it was warm in the diner.

The town was practically a ghost town, what with it being so close to Blackwood Mountain. Josh had given Chris a lift, but night had fallen and it’d been too late for them to go up the mountain by the time they’d arrived. They had to stay at a motel in town for the night.

The diner was empty except for them and the waitress lounging by the counter and checking her phone. The fogged up windows gave it an illusion of privacy.

Chris patted his full belly. He popped a button on his jeans to loosen the pressure. “The poutine is amazing. Why don’t we have this back home?”

“Better enjoy it while you can,” Josh said. “We’ll be eating canned food once we’re on the mountain.”

Chris groaned. “Please tell me you’re kidding.”

“Not like there’s anyone but me restocking the pantry this year,” Josh said.

The poutine sat more heavily in Chris’s stomach than it’d done a few minutes ago. Chris hadn’t meant to touch on the one topic that was off-limit for the trip. Chris snapped his fingers. “You know what? I’ll buy a chicken in town tomorrow, just to save us from terrible dinners for the weekend.”

“Do you know how to cook a chicken, Master Chef?” Josh said.

“You just stick it in the over and fire it up, right?” Chris said.

“Sounds about right,” Josh said. He pulled out a key from his jacket. “But don’t take too long picking out the chicken. You’ll be my doorman tomorrow.”

“What’s that?” Chris said, eyeing the key.

“The key to the lower cable car station. We’re keeping the station locked up to stop people from sleeping in it. You’ll need this key to get our pals into the station,” Josh said.

“Yeah, I get it,” Chris said. “What I don’t get is why you are giving me the key. Won’t you be coming with us?”

“Someone has to go up the mountain first and make sure everything is working, buddy.” Josh pressed the key into Chris’s hand. “I’m trusting you with this. Don’t lose it. I don’t want to bust my ass coming down to get you guys tomorrow.”

“Man, I’m gonna freeze my ass off at the station waiting for everyone,” Chris said. He pointed at the thick pile of coats and sweaters that he’d shed and left on the seat next to him. “You see these clothes? These are the clothes of a guy that doesn’t like to spend his time sitting in the snow.”

“If it’s any consolation it’ll be even colder up in the mountain,” Josh said.

“Let me check,” Chris said. “Nope, it’s not helping at all.”

Josh laughed. He clapped Chris on the back. “Rest up, bro. You’ll need it. We have a long weekend ahead of us.”

“What have you planned? It’s something crazy, isn’t it?” Chris said.

“You know me,” Josh said with an easy grin, leaning back in his seat. There was a glint in his eyes that Chris couldn’t decipher. “I don’t do anything half-way.”


End file.
